


Coin Flip

by OlegGunnarsson



Series: The Nexus is Leaking [4]
Category: Hearthstone (Video Game), Heroes of the Storm (Video Game), Overwatch (Video Game), World of Warcraft
Genre: Canon Compliant, Card Games, Chromie is basically the Doctor, D.va in Azeroth, Gen, Hearthstone Inn, Prequel, The Nexus is Leaking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-10 11:51:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13501172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OlegGunnarsson/pseuds/OlegGunnarsson
Summary: Chromie and Harth Stonebrew sit down for their monthly game of Hearthstone, only for Chromie to learn about the newest guest at the Inn - Hana Song.





	1. First Turn

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place after Chapter 28 of Eye of the Storm, and also prior to Chromie's initial arrival in the nexus, because time travel. You do not need to have read Eye of the Storm to appreciate this story, though.

It wasn’t often that Harth Stonebrew chose to take time off. 

This wasn’t even time off, really. He had players and patrons at all hours, of course, but it was late enough now that most of them had finished their games or passed out from drink. And the few remaining players could be handled by Malto, if it came to it. But the reality was that between the old wizard and Sasha, the bartender, the Hearthstone Inn was in good hands. 

So when the old dwarf decided to slip away, Sasha just nodded and kept wiping down the bar. 

He had walked upstairs, stopping in his office only long enough to grab an old iron key and two decks of cards. The first was his own, and it had some new cards he wanted to try out. The second, well - he kept that one for special occasions. 

Past the storage room, then up the next set of stairs and down the hall to the left. Harth forgot, sometimes, just how big this inn of his had gotten. But business had been good, especially recently, and they really did need the space. 

At the end of the hall, Harth saw the room. It was a normal room at the inn, except for the “Private” sign in three languages. His key came out of its pouch, and with a turn and a click, the door opened. 

“You’re just in time,” said Chromie with a grin. 

Harth laughed at that, just as he always did. “One of these days, I’ll surprise you.”

 

\-----

 

Their conversation continued during their first game, which Chromie won on a lucky draw.  _ Or was it? _ Harth did not believe that the timewalker would use her powers to cheat at cards, especially a friendly game, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t tease her about the idea.

Harth was shuffling his cards, when Chromie asked him about the new rare card he had tried (unsuccessfully) to use against her. He chuckled. 

“How brilliant, if that card had been the one to win? I won that card from Hana, just yesterday.”

Chromie smiled back. “Good for you, Harth, winning a game now and again.” Her deck shuffled itself in the air, cards rearranging themselves with speed. When he set his deck in front of her, her cards stacked themselves in front of him. They cut the cards, each splitting their opponent’s decks roughly in half. 

“You mentioned her before, how you’re glad she is fitting in,” Chromie said, as she drew her cards. Harth flipped the coin, which gave Chromie the first turn.  _ Again _ . “How long is she staying?”

“She’s been here a week. I don’t know what her plans are.” He shrugged. “She said she needed a vacation. I convinced her that this was a fine spot indeed for spending time off the battlefield.” 

Chromie nodded in agreement, as she considered her hand. “I’ll have to meet her before I leave.” 

Harth drew his extra card, eyeing her. “Meet her?” 

Chromie looked up from her cards, catching his gaze. His expression was unmistakable - she had seen it often enough. “I’ve already met her, haven’t I?” 

He chuckled now, setting his hand down on the table. “Aye, you sent her here.” 

“Did I?” Chromie remarked. Finding out that she had done something unusual was nothing new - it came part and parcel with being a timewalker. But something about this struck her as odd. “Where is she from?” 

“She grew up in a place called Korea, she said.” Off Chromie’s lack of recognition, he continued. “But before she arrived here, she had come from something called the nexus.” 

Chromie drew her first card, and then tapped the table to end her turn. “What’s the nexus?” 

Harth laughed, at that. “You know, that’s exactly what I said when she told me.” He played a card, then ended his own turn. “Perhaps she should tell you the tale.” 

 

\-----

 

Hana Song had settled down once Chromie had convinced her that she was time-looped, and that actually Hana was meeting Chromie before they knew each other. The story of her origin was not as interesting as the story of how she learned the inn’s signature card game. 

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” she had replied, shuffling her deck. 

“You’re sitting in an inn, playing cards with a bronze dragon, in a universe not your own,” Chromie said, amused. “Try me.” 

Hana looked up, setting her deck on the table for the cut. “Alright. I first set foot in this place a week ago, but yet in my world I’ve been playing this card game for about 7 years.” 

This had been a surprise to Harth - though people had indeed played cards in his inn for years, certainly, the game hadn’t really gotten popular until recently. “How’s that, then?” he asked. 

She had a brief look of panic on her face. How do you explain the internet to a dwarven innkeeper? “There’s a version that became popular in my world, and that’s what I played. The cards were even the same.” 

Harth had no response to that. Chromie looked thoughtful, however. 

“I see.” She said, before looking Hana in the eyes. “So how do we know each other, exactly?” 

 

\-----

 

Chromie sat, looking into the fireplace. Harth watched her, saying nothing. He had never seen her this worried about something. Though, to be honest, the worst that happened in his inn was a dispute over cards. Harth Stonebrew ran a clean establishment. 

He had known Chromie for a long time - long enough to set aside a room for her to come and go as she pleased. Time travel was easier in a room known to be empty - less explaining that way, too. 

“It’s quite a story,” he offered. “I still want to know how our little game ended up with millions of players in another universe.” She looked at him, raising an eyebrow. 

“An entire universe exists to syphon energy from our world, and people can fall into that universe and do battle?” She shook her head. “Cards aside, if this were just a tale, I would give the bard some gold and tell him to sing something else.” 

“And yet,” he replied.

“And yet, we have Hana.” She gestured at the nearby table, where Hana was trading cards with a human paladin named Lou. “A woman who knows me before I meet her, that’s not unusual. But if half of what she described is true…” 

“There’s a reason I don’t leave the inn much anymore,” Harth said. “It sounds like this nexus is constant battle.” 

“Battle, yes, but then she talked about portals opening to her world, and armies marching through, and well... “ She looked Harth in the eye. “You understand why that sort of thing makes me nervous.” 

“Aye,” he said, sipping his ale. “I do indeed.” 

“And she knew Alexstrasza.” His eyes grew wider, for he knew who the Life-Binder was. Who didn’t? But Chromie had also said that the Dragon Queen had suffered a loss so severe that she had withdrawn from the world, from her remaining family.  Chromie didn’t mention that the loss had been her last remaining partner, nor did she have to - Harth got the idea from her look of horror at the idea of even telling the story. The pain was too recent, too fresh - and it wasn’t even her pain. 

“What’ll you do, then?” asked Harth. 

Chromie grinned, sipping her wine. “The same thing I always do.” She raised her cup in toast. The innkeeper did the same. Then, Chromie set her drink down, before cracking her knuckles. 

“I guess I’ll need to figure out how to get to the nexus.” She sighed. “The bronze dragonflight is going to  _ love _ this.” 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect more Hana in future chapters. This is planned as a short side-story, and not a major tale in and of itself, but I admit the idea of the Hearthstone Inn finding its way into the nexus could be fun. 
> 
> Feedback, as always, is welcome.


	2. The Chase

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lou and Hana catch a thief. Harth and Sasha catch a trophy.

Harth Stonebrew heard the laughter before he even walked into the tavern room. 

“And then, the thief actually apologized!” Lou was regaling his bartender with a story, and several of the regulars were hanging on his every word. Hana Song was sitting nearby, looking slightly embarrassed but grinning all the same. Sasha, the bartender on duty, was actually following the story - usually, Harth could tell when she was just being polite. And most of Lou’s tales from his adventuring days had been told enough times to have lost all novelty, at least to her. 

Lou’s back was to the staircase, so it was Hana who saw Harth first. She raised her mug to him in salute, still smiling, but her eyes said  _ ”Rescue Me!” _ . He saw that she had traded her strange blue and pink armor for a simple vest with a blue shirt underneath, dark breeches, and a belt. Her boots, he noted, were not the everyday traveler’s shoes worn by the locals, but sturdier boots that offered some level of protection, while also keeping the wearer’s steps at least somewhat quiet.

At her hip, he saw the strange weapon she had been wearing when she arrived. The pistol, and its fabric sheath ( _ Kevlar _ , she had called it) were the only indications that she was not from around here. But Azeroth was large, and it was not unusual to meet someone from a place one didn’t know existed. To many, “Korea” would just be another faraway land - and none would suspect how right they were.  

Sasha set an ale down at the end of the bar, next to Harth’s usual spot. Lou saw the movement, then turned and saw him. “Harth Stonebrew, our honored host!” He raised his ale, not bothering to wait for Harth to return the gesture before taking a long drink. “We are toasting the valor of this fine warrior, who this very day has vanquished an evil brigand and defended the innocent and the weak.” 

Harth’s eyebrow raised at that. “Not often do we get proper vanquishing, ‘round here.” 

Hana shrugged. “It wasn’t that big of a deal.” 

“Nonsense!” Lou’s voice boomed. Hana sighed, bracing herself for a fresh retelling of the story. 

  


\-----

  


Lou burst into the street, eyes scanning the crowd for the thief. He hadn’t gotten a good look at the man who stole his satchel (and his cards!), but he knew that he was looking for a purple hood. It was midday, and the stone street was crowded. He looked to his right, then his left, and his eyes caught a glimpse of purple turning onto a side street. He took off running. 

Behind him, he heard footsteps. A glance showed him Hana Song, following on his heels. “Go back, girl, I’ve got him!” 

She kept pace easily, and made a mental note to thank Chromie for leaving her some extra gold - the added cost of proper boots was paying off today. “You need backup, Lou!” she shouted. They made it to the side street and turned the corner. Ahead, they saw the thief. 

He had slowed somewhat, hoping that the crowd and his headstart would keep them off his tail. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the paladin charging at him, saw the anger on the man’s face, and took off again. As they closed the distance, they saw him dodge into an alleyway on the left side of the curving road. Lou followed closely behind, but heard Hana charge past, continuing up the side street. “Hana!” he shouted, but she was gone. Even if she doubled back, she’d never catch up. 

He was on his own. 

The thief may have sensed this, or he heard Lou’s shout, or perhaps he realized that his pursuit had been cut in half. Whatever his reason, he slowed to a stop. Turning, Lou saw that it was a human man underneath that hood. His scarred face now held an evil grin, and in his eyes Lou saw greed. 

Coming to a halt several paces away, Lou drew his short sword. Pointing it at the thief, he snarled his words. “That satchel isn’t yours. Set it down and walk away.” 

The thief’s grin broadened, as he saw the soft glow on the paladin’s sword. “I think not,” he replied. The robe fell to the ground, and underneath the thief held two daggers. “And if that’s a magic sword I see, you have no chance.” 

“You clearly have no idea who I am, then.” Lou said.

The thief snorted. “I don’t care who the hell you are. No magic can touch me.” He raised one of the daggers, and Lou saw a glowing leather bracer on the man’s wrist. “But my blades will slay you with no more than a scratch.” 

Lou considered this, even as he kept his blade at the ready. If the thief was truthful, then Lou really didn’t have any good options. He had a small knife in his boot, but it wasn’t going to be enough against two long daggers - especially if those blades were poisoned. 

And even if the thief was lying, the reality was that he wasn’t really up to single combat against a younger, quicker opponent. Not without his armor - his clothes were fancy, but they would do little to stop a blade. 

The thief turned his head to the left, then grinned again. “And who are you, little one? Did your uncle here tell you that you could help him stop the big bad thief?” 

Lou saw Hana walk into the alley, from the opposite end. The thief was now blocked in, but by an unarmored paladin on one side and what looked to be an unarmed woman on the other. 

She sighed, as if she were bored already. “He’s not my uncle.” 

She had a piece of metal in her hands, glowing purple at one end. Lou saw Hana hold it in front of her, pointed at the thief’s feet. He saw the tension in her stance,  the practiced ease with which she stood at the ready.  _ Ready for what? _ Lou wondered. He did not know her to have any magical abilities, and those might be useless against the thief’s shield. Perhaps that object was a wand of some sort? It faced the same problem, of course, but that might make more sense. 

He had wondered why she carried it wherever she went - now he would find out.  _ As long as it doesn’t get her killed,  _ he thought. 

“Foolish child, your magic cannot touch me. And you have no blade, no bow. So you’re going to let me walk out of here. You will not follow.” The thief pointed a blade at her. “Or else you die.” 

She shrugged. “No Meka, no problem.” Lou saw her square her shoulders, bringing the device up to her eye line. With a sharp crack, a burst of blue light shot forth. Before Lou could follow its flight, the stones behind the thief shattered with the impact. 

The thief’s arm went up, as if to shield himself from the debris. But there was no debris, only a layer of dust settling on his purple cloak. A small wisp of smoke rose from the scorched stone. The thief looked at the impact, then at Hana. “But how…?” 

Hana kept the pistol aimed at the Thief. “Drop the satchel.” 

Lou watched as the thief raised his blades again. “No.” 

She rolled her eyes at him, then lowered her pistol. Lou wasn’t sure what she was doing, until she fired again without warning. This time, the cobblestones between the thief’s feet exploded. 

The poor man actually yelped as he jumped back. One of his daggers clattered to the ground. In a panicked shriek, he pointed the now empty hand at Hana. “How can your magic evade my shield? This is impossible!” 

She smiled, holding up the pistol. “This is a standard issue Plasma Blaster. It’s not magic.” 

Lou saw the thief’s eyes briefly flash at the blaster, wondering how much he would get if he sold it. “A rare weapon,” he began. 

She laughed at him, right to his face, and Lou smiled at the thief’s anger. “Where I come from, everyone in the military gets one.” She pointed it at the thief’s head. “Want to find out why?” 

  


\-----

  


“Thank you, Hana.” Harth said, as he sat down next to her. Lou had started the tale again, and the three people who hadn’t heard it the first few times were enraptured. They heard Lou embellish the chase even more than he had previously, and both chuckled. 

“It was nothing.” She replied. 

“It was not nothing and you know it.” His voice remained pleasant, but his tone told her that he would not argue the point. “A tavern can get a reputation, you know. Especially in a city like this one. Every thief who escapes with nothing more than a story is one more thief warning his mates to ply their trade elsewhere.” He looked to Sasha. “Did you…?” 

The blonde woman smiled, then pointed at the wall behind the bar. There, mounted above the bottles and jugs back of the bar, was a vast array of knives and bladed weapons. “The Thieve’s Regret” proclaimed a sign. 

Below the sign, in a place of honor, Sasha had added the thief’s two daggers, left on the stone next to Lou’s satchel. The thief hadn’t even waited for Hana to threaten him again. 

Harth nodded in approval. “Good.” He looked at Hana, seeing that she was still a little uncomfortable with all the attention. “I’m glad you’ve made yourself at home, here. And that you knew the city well enough to spring a trap for our thief.” 

She smiled. “I’ve spent the last few years sitting in a chair playing games, or travelling the world fighting in a war.” She shrugged. “Chromie brought me here to relax, and what better way to do that than to see the sights?” 

Now he got it. “Your morning runs?” 

She nodded. “Whenever I’m with my unit in the MEKA corps, we would get up early and jog. It always helped me wake up. And it’s a great way to learn where things are around here.” 

“It sounds like you don’t get much time to yourself.” 

She smiled. “When I’m not on duty, I have thousands of people who come to watch me play games. It’s hard to justify taking time away from them, when I’d probably be playing games anyway.” She sipped her drink. “But sometimes, you’re right, it is nice to just relax and keep no schedule but my own.” 

He sipped his ale, looking thoughtful. “Sometimes, I have a hard time remembering that a woman your age has been a soldier in a war.” He sobered slightly. “But there are many in Azeroth who have had to grow up even quicker.” 

To that, Hana had no reply. 

“Well,” he said, standing. “Don’t let me keep you. But remember this.” He raised his ale once more. “Whenever you are in Azeroth, however that happens - know that you’re always welcome in my Inn, Hana Song. You have a home here. Even before today, you had earned that much.”  

Hana blinked at him, and he began to take a drink. Then she was giving him a hug, and the drink almost went all over them both.  
  
  



	3. Reactions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hana learns that she isn't as far from home as she thought. Harth and Sasha give her gifts.

Hana saw the early evening crowd beginning to fill the tavern, as she walked down the stairs. Every day, there were more familiar faces. Every evening, one or two more of them waved at her as she entered. 

Sasha, the bartender, saw her approach. She placed a mug in front of Hana just as she sat down, with practiced movements and expert timing - the mug hit the bar’s surface at the exact instant that she hit the seat. 

“How long have you practiced that, Sasha?” Hana asked. She lifted the mug, seeing that it was once again her favorite green soda, ice and all. 

The blonde woman chuckled as she cleaned a glass. “Every customer is different, of course. For some it’s considered a gross breach of etiquette to even acknowledge their presence before they speak.” She swapped the clean glass for another dirty one, smiling as she spoke. “Then there are the elves, who won’t even sit down unless they have a drink in hand.” 

Hana laughed, picturing some of the elves who frequented the tavern. “How do you tell the difference?” 

The woman shrugged, placing the clean glass on a shelf. “I guess I figured it out when I was younger.” 

Hana watched the bartender for a few moments, before blowing a raspberry at her. “You can’t begin a story and then leave it hanging like that!” 

Now it was Sasha who chuckled. Then she looked at Hana. “Fine. I’ll tell you my story.” Seeing that the other customers were taken care of, she leaned over. “When I grew up, my mother was a racer. So my youth was spent alongside race tracks, surrounded by speed freaks and adrenaline junkies.”

Hana sat closer to the bar, the better to listen. “What did they race?” She had visions of horse races or dinosaur races, or maybe even dragons racing through the air. 

“All sorts of things, really. If it ran fast, they’d race it.” Sasha grinned. “I knew a lot of the other racers, and the very best ones - including my mother - taught me how to get by.”

Sasha spoke quietly now, and Hana Song listened to every word. The noise of the bar seemed to fade, somewhat. 

“The secret was this - you don’t win a race by moving fast, or having the fastest ride, or getting lucky. You win a race here.” She pointed at her temple. “And here.” Then her hand moved to her eyes. “The best racers could react to something they had seen, even before they realized they had seen it. But afterward, once they thought it through, they’d realize that their reaction was the only real choice they had - anything else and they would have crashed, or worse.” 

“In training,” said Hana, “They taught us to be mindful of the entire battlefield. Knowing where the enemy was is half of it - we also had to know where friendlies were, too.” 

Sasha nodded. “You can’t make the best decision unless you have all of the information. You just can’t. And it doesn’t matter if you’re going at 200 miles per hour or chasing down a cobblestone street after a robber.” She waved her hand at the bar, and its patrons. “So I learned to pay attention. To listen. Turns out, that makes me a great bartender.” 

Hana looked thoughtful, sipping her drink. Then she looked at Sasha once more. “Where did you say you grew up?” 

Sasha smiled. “I didn’t. But you may have heard of it.” Now she grinned again. “It’s a little town called Indianapolis.” 

Hana paused, her mug halfway to her lips. “No way.” 

Sasha nodded. “It’s always good to meet someone from Earth, ‘round here.” She sipped her own drink, chuckling at Hana’s astonishment. “Every once in a while, people just disappear, right? It’s been that way for centuries. Sometimes, they end up elsewhere.” 

“And then they wander into an old dwarf’s bar,” said Harth Stonebrew, as he walked over to join them. “Speaking not one word of the common tongue, offering to mop floors for bread.” 

“I watched and learned, boss.” Sasha replied, filling a mug with ale. “And I listened.” 

Harth sat next to Hana, his own drink appearing in front of him. “Turns out, having a bartender who knew everyone’s name was better for business than anything I had ever done, except for the cards, of course.” Sasha made eye contact with Harth, and watched him nod. 

From her apron, Sasha produced a small package. Wrapped in brown paper, with a simple string tie, Hana had no idea what it might be. She watched as Sasha set the package down on the bar, then slid it over to her. 

Tugging gently on the string, the paper began to come apart. “Go ahead, it’s yours.” said Harth. Curious, Hana opened the paper to reveal a small metal key. She held it up, and saw the spiral logo of the tavern worked into the metal. Hana looked over to Harth, who was smiling broadly. 

“I told you,” he began. “You always have a home here.” He nodded at the key, pointing to the symbol. “Hold that in your hand and say my name - if you’re anywhere in Azeroth, you’ll appear in your room upstairs.” 

Hana looked from the key to the bartender to the tavern’s owner. Then she hugged Harth, almost knocking him out of his chair. Sasha chuckled and went to fill another drink order. 

Hana resumed her seat, still smiling - but sadly. “Does this mean you’re kicking me out, Harth?” 

The dwarf’s eyes grew wide, before he laughed loudly. “Of course not, Hana! But is not today the day you’re leaving us? That’s why your friends are here, is it not?” 

“Subtle, he ain’t.” said Sasha, walking up behind Hana. Turning, Hana saw a second package in the woman’s arms. This one was not wrapped, and as Sasha came closer, Hana got a good look. 

It was a backpack. 

The leather was expertly cut and crafted into what appeared to be an ordinary backpack. The seams and straps were reinforced, and the entire thing had the appearance of rugged durability. She suspected that the interior had been enchanted somehow, so that it would hold more and feel lighter when carried.  _ I wonder if that will work back home,  _ she thought. 

At the center of the pack, a blue design was worked into the leather. It was her own logo, the proud rabbit found on her meka - and on her body armor. Simple lines underneath formed “D.Va” in the stylized script used on her meka. 

Now it was Sasha who got a hug, and the bartender returned it warmly. She ignored Hana’s tears. 

Presently, Hana wiped her eyes and looked at the bartender and her boss. “You know I’ll be back as soon as I can be, right?” 

Harth laughed, hugging her again. “So your friends told us.” Sasha placed a tray on the bar, and Harth lifted it effortlessly. On it was another mug of pop, two glasses of red wine, and a steaming jug of sake with four small glasses. “Come on, we shouldn’t keep them waiting.” 

Hana shouldered the bag, realizing that her things had probably been packed for her. This didn’t bother her, as it was probably done with magic. She followed Harth up the stairs, to a small private dining area. 

There, around a table, sat Chromie and Hanzo and Alexstrasza.  

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time, I will not begin a spin-off that might spoil the ending of the main story. But as I said, this isn't D.Va's last visit to Hearthstone Inn, nor have we seen the last of Harth and Sasha. 
> 
> Chromie, of course, will be bringing Hana back to Earth, via the Nexus. She left Eye of the Storm after Chapter 24, and will return for Chapter 36, for those reading along. Hanzo and Alexstrasza, meanwhile... well, let's just say we'll learn more about where they are in their timeline in another work. 
> 
> Thank you for reading this little ficlet. Feedback is welcome.


End file.
